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Monday, August 17, 2009

FINALLY!

I'm back in town after a little sojourn away and, during my travels, I noticed something at the Memphis International Airport that made me very happy:

Recycling containers.

Yes, they finally have them.

They looked a little funny (sorry, I didn't get a picture, I think they may be "green" containers), but they are definitely for recycling.

I've written about this before, but it always struck me they didn't have recycling bins. You have a place where people are sitting around every day, every hour, reading the paper and drinking out of soda bottles, and you don't recycle? It just seemed wasteful. Especially the newspapers.

And I get that the price for recycled material isn't what it once was, with the global economy and all.

Fast Company recently published an interesting story entitled Bye-Bye, Dubai that illustrates that point very clearly. Actually, I should also mention that in that same issue they had a whole section on the "car-less city," several pieces on how congestion, pollution, and fuel costs are leading cities to entice residents out of their cars. There were a lot of interesting ideas there. I'm hoping when Anthony Siracusa comes back from his worldwide tour he's going to get on this one. Or you know, maybe Downtown Midtown Bike.

But I digress.

The point is I'm proud of lil' ol' MEM, taking care of business. Hopefully, travelers will use them.

Now that that's taken care of, I do think the airport could still use some upgrades (Aerotropolis? More like bomb-shelter, especially in the C concourse) but, again, in the current economic climate, it's probably wishful thinking.

I generally fly in and out of MEM early in the morning or late at night, and I've always attributed the lack of people around due to the time of day. I got back mid-afternoon this trip, however, and there still wasn't a soul around.

It was kind of creepy, even in the middle of the day. Someone should so film a horror movie there. I'm sure that would violate all sorts of TSA regulations (is fake blood a liquid or a gel?) but if someone could get it worked out, it would be cool.

On the other hand, that's probably not the impression people want visitors to the city of Memphis to have once they step off the plane.